Iranian TV has remade Modern Family minus the gay characters

Iranian audiences are loving LGBTI inclusive US comedy series Modern Family without even knowing it.

It turns out that the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting TV channel has been ripping off the show scene-for-scene minus gay dads Mitch and Cam.

In Haft Sang, an unauthorized remake of the show, their parts have either been written out or given a heterosexual makeover as Iranian TV tries to translate the appeal of the ABC hit show within the strict religious guidelines of an Iranian theocratic state.

Other characters have also had their genders changed to avoid depicting pre-marital mixing of men and women to Iranian audiences.

Haft Sang translates to ‘Seven Stones’ which is a traditional ball game in parts of the Middle East and Asia where two teams compete to build or destroy a pile of stones.

The similarity between the shows was discovered by Iranian fans of Modern Family who illegally download American TV shows to avoid state censorship and one of them has put together a comparison video showing how blatantly Haft Sang is a rip off of Modern Family.